Lectionary Readings: Year A – Proper 14

In the movie Jaws, there’s a scene where Martin Brody, the sheriff in town is sitting on the back of the boat, throwing out chum into the water, hoping that they’ll be able to attract the shark that they are hunting. He’s absent-mindedly talking to the ship’s captain as he’s doing this, and not thinking much about what’s going on.

Then he sees something out of the corner of his eye, and turns around in time to see a giant shark’s head popping above the water and he jumps up, his eyes wide, a cigarette dangling from his lips. Then he slowly walks backwards into the cockpit of the boat, never taking his eyes off the water. As soon as he’s inside the room, he turns slightly to the captain and says:

“You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”

As it turns out, Rob Scheider, the actor who portrayed the sheriff, had adlibbed that line, and every one of the cast and crew absolutely loved it. The phrase took on a life of its own, and soon they were using it whenever they were filming and something went wrong, when the unexpected and unexplained happened, or when they were facing something that seemed impossible. You know, something like, “We have five thousand extras on the set today, and we need to feed them all.” “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”

I would bet that if anyone ever wished they had a bigger boat, it was the disciples, who had been stuck in a raging storm for most of the night. The Gospel reading today tells us that it was the fourth watch, which is between 3 and 6 am, so they had been in that storm for at least nine hours. If they had had a bigger boat, it would have meant more stability, and their boat would not have been thrown around by the wind so much. If they had had a bigger boat, then it would have meant higher bulkheads, and the waves may not have crashed over the sides, filling the boat with water. If they had had a bigger boat, they would have felt safer, more comfortable, more protected. If they had had a bigger boat, they may not even have been afraid. After all, in a raging storm, would you rather be on an ocean liner, or in a small sailboat?

But here they are, in a little boat. And in the midst of this raging chaos, they see a figure walking to them on the water. It looks like a ghost. They are scared. But Jesus calls out to them and says, “Hey! It’s just me; don’t be afraid.”

I can only imagine what is going through the disciples’ minds at this point. Here they are, in a boat, in the raging storm, looking across the water at Jesus who is telling them not to be afraid.

Of course, these disciples had done this before. A boat. A storm. The wind was howling and the waves were crashing all around them, and Jesus… well, Jesus was taking a nap. The disciples wake him up, and Jesus gets up, commands the storm to be calm, and the wind dies down, the rain stops, and the water becomes as peaceful as a mirror. They’ve seen this movie before, and so some of them are probably thinking, “Great! Jesus is here, he’ll calm the storm and all will be well.”

But this time Jesus doesn’t calm the storm. He’s just standing there, telling them not to be afraid, in the middle of all this raging chaos of wind and waves.

It seems that at least Peter has been paying attention to what has been happening to them in the past few weeks and months that they have been spending time with Jesus. He paid attention when Jesus sent them on a trip where they cast out demons and cured the sick. Peter paid attention when they fed five thousand people with a little boy’s lunch. 

Maybe Jesus was standing there for a reason. Just standing there and not calming the storm. Maybe there was a reason for this continued chaos.

So Peter calls out and says, “Lord, if that is really you, if I am not hallucinating, then command me to come to you on the water.”

And Jesus simply says, “Come.”

And that crazy Peter steps out of the boat.

And then? Amazing! He takes a step, but he doesn’t sink. He takes another step, and again, his foot does not sink, and he continues to move toward Jesus. And then another step, and another, and another…

But then it happens. “Peter notices the strong wind.”

And all of a sudden Peter has this moment of revelation: “What am I doing? Why am I out of the boat? People can’t walk on water! How did I get here? Look at the wind, the crashing waves. I’m not a fish…” And his feet begin to sink into the water, and then more of him starts to go down, and he cries out to Jesus, “Lord, Save Me.”

So Jesus reaches out and pulls Peter up out of the water and says, “You of little faith, why do you doubt?”

Do you think that all the disciples in the boat were saying the same thing? “Yeah, Peter, why did you doubt? Don’t you have any faith, Peter? C’mon man!”

No. The disciples in the boat are now looking at two people standing on the water. Jesus, their teacher, and Peter, their friend. Both are standing on the water, while the other disciples are still in the boat that is being rocked and thrown around by the waves. 

Think about that for a moment. Peter had focused on all the chaos going on around him for a while, and lost sight of Jesus. This is why he started to sink into the sea. But now he is standing there, on the water, next to Jesus, looking back at a boatful of disciples. And this whole time, the storm hasn’t stopped raging. The wind and the waves have been crashing down on that little boat the entire time that Peter has been walking on water, sinking in water, and now, even standing on the water next to Jesus. In fact, the storm was still raging as all of these disciples stared at Peter and Jesus on the water.

Let me ask you, who do you think felt safer at that moment?

Was it the disciples in the boat, or Peter, standing on the water, next to Jesus?

We like to focus on the miracle of walking on water here. It was a miracle. We can’t deny that. We also sometimes like to focus on Peter’s doubt, since Jesus himself called Peter out for that moment of fear and doubt when he “noticed the strong wind.”

But I think that the important part of the message today is that Peter called out to Jesus and said, “If it is you, tell me to come to you on the water.”

Peter was less concerned about the miracle, and more concerned with doing what Jesus commanded, and with being near Jesus, because he knew the safest place in any chaos is right beside Jesus.

This is why Peter stepped out of the boat and onto the water. He didn’t start doing jumping jacks, or running around doing backflips on top of the waves. He didn’t turn around and look at the disciples in the boat and say, “Check me out, losers!” It was not about Peter doing a miracle. It wasn’t about Peter looking good or doing something awesome. It was about Peter doing what Jesus wanted him to do, and about Peter being close to Jesus – no matter the risk involved.

The obvious question that jumps out at us is this: are we the disciples in the boat? Or are we Peter? … And the follow up to that question is: Do we want to be the disciples in the boat, or do we want to be Peter? 

And I’m not talking about walking on water. I’m talking about the desire to be close to Jesus, even if it means that we may have to do something that takes us out of the relative safety of our own little boat in the storm, out of our own little comfort zone.

I would often rather remain happily in my comfort zone, instead of asking what God might want me to do – especially when it might involve something uncomfortable.

I can look at those uncomfortable things and say, “You know what, I think I need a bigger boat. If I had a bigger boat, this wind and these waves might not upset me so much. If I had a bigger boat I could deal with this storm myself. If I had a bigger boat, I might not even feel uncomfortable right now. If I had a bigger boat, I might not even be tempted to step into the water to be near Jesus. Walking on water is a crazy idea anyway.”

When things get tough in our lives, when they get uncomfortable, we often like to look for a way to get more money, find more time, increase our influence, or whatever else we think we need. We look for new ways to solve the problem in our own way, rather than finding a way to get closer to Jesus, because sometimes getting closer to Jesus feels like taking a step out of a boat in a raging storm. We like predictability, we like stability, and we like comfort. And stepping out of a boat during a storm – or taking any risk that involves a lot of uncertainty – is none of those things.

Only we can know what our own comfort zone – our boat in the storm – might be, and only we can know what it means to step outside that boat. It can be something tangible or practical; it can be something mental or emotional; it can be any other means of relying on God that defies logic and brings us fear and discomfort.

But the important thing is, are we willing to say, “If it is you,Lord, command me to come to you?”

And yet, none of us have to make this request of God: “Tell me to come to you.”

Because, you see, at the end of the day, just like at the end of today’s Gospel, Jesus will get into the boat with you. You may never have stepped out of the boat – there were a whole bunch of disciples that didn’t, after all – but that doesn’t mean that you will miss out on God’s presence.

You will never miss out on the love and peace of God by staying in the boat.

But you might miss out on the peace of standing on the water next to Jesus in the raging chaos. You might miss out on being so close to Jesus that you forget about the howling wind and crashing waves all around you, and instead see only the calm tranquility of Jesus doing the impossible right next to you.

[This sermon was delivered at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Wickenburg, AZ on August 9, 2026.]